These are part of the elaborated notes about Tai Chi Chuan (Mandarin) or Taijiquan (cantonese) Training that I am perenially working upon. The exercise is an effort towards improving my own clarity on the subject and to make it clearer for my students.
Rootedness- The Yang
Level-1 and Level-2 are the first two courses dealing with the empty hand forms. These levels address the root of the whole problem of ill health- weak foundation. If you are building a huge skyscraper bulk of the time is spent laying and building the foundation. Stronger the foundation quicker will you start scrapping the sky. The bulk of these forms get into building the thigh and calf muscle. With the 2010 retreat and with many classes with Sifu and with regular practice all of you are quite aware about the benefits of the additional set of hearts you get. For those who are new this warrants an explanation. A strong and thigh and calf muscle help in pumping the blood, in addition to the heart, whenever these muscle get squeezed when walking or when doing Tai Chi. The fluid movement of Tai Chi forms results in these muscle to get tightened and relaxed at an even pace. The result is that the heart muscle can now have much better performance as the cardiac muscle will see less of a load. As the liver is on the right side of the body the Tai Chi 85 forms is right side dominant and liver being the organ that purifies blood. The right thigh creates an immediate blood pressure into the liver when it tightens and sucks out blood from it when it relaxes. This quickens the pace of blood purification. This perhaps is the reason behind the expression “additional heart”.
Rootedness is also very important in order to execute the technique with martial intent. Unless one is stable defense, counter-attack or offense will not be efficient. Rootedness is also very important for speed. This is quite counter-intuitive. But it is quite simple unless one is rooted the weight transition during movement will not be efficient, inefficient weight transition results in waste of time in the actual movement as the body is too bothered about the balance. Rootedness gives simplicity to the movement without simplicity there is no speed and with no speed one is dead meat if you aspire to be a martial artist. You thought Tai Chi is slow- you have not been paying attention to the push hands video of Grand Master Fu Sheng Yuan or his “Cannon Shot” FaJing. A clarification is needed here rootedness is not the only pre-requisite it just one of the pre-requisites.
Relaxation- The Yin
We talk of Level-1 and Level-2 again. In addressing the lower body you must address the upper body as well. In performing the forms for better rootedness the upper body needs to relax more and more. Stiff upper body automatically means clumsy and robotic balancing act. An explanation in Physics is warranted here for the skeptics. Relaxed upper body means shoulders dropped chest settled there is a natural convex curve on the upper back, spine relaxed but straight. What this gives you is lower centre of gravity over and above what you have with the low squat. The muscles of the arms relaxed and not otherwise straining the blood flow in the arteries and the veins making the blood circulation system of the human body super fast and super efficient. Super efficient circulation system means sensitive central nervous system. Sensitive nervous system means more feeling, more feeling means clear Yin.
For the martial artist, clear Yin means high speed thanks to relaxed muscles and sensitive nervous system.
Qi- The Yin-Yang Interplay
Without rootedness there is no relaxation because one is too bothered about balance and without relaxation there is no feeling or awareness about ones’ rootedness. The interplay of this Yin and Yang and the Yang and Yin constitutes the Qi flow. When one walks there is Qi flow- solid to empty, empty to solid, one foot to the other. Qi is right there to be felt. Simple. Tai Chi Classics states it as “the movements constitute a wave emanating from the feet, governed by the waist and manifest in your hands”. Every movement can be viewed as the interplay between the solid and the empty. The transition from one to other has to be spontaneous rather than labored. It is this spontaneity that contributes to speed- as fast as the speed of thought. When one is in harmony between these seemingly irreconcilable forces, one is with the Tao. I just made the entire thing too mystical, the culprit being the language. When one practices one should see to it that there is clear distinction between the solid and the empty, clear Yang and clear Yin and there is no way one can achieve it unless there is Diligence, Perseverance, Sincerity and Respect- Words of GrandMaster Fu Zhong Wen, Motto of our federation and our academy.
Simply stated a good round of daily and regular practice, practice with the correct technique and constantly studying the movements are what is required to attain excellence or Kung Fu (GongFu). Without correct technique the body will be prone to injury. Injury means loss of practice; with loss of practice one is so much further away from progress. It does not matter how quickly one has learnt a form what matters is how correctly one has learnt it. Memory is funny. We forget. We may feel good getting right one time but one needs to go through the same grind all over again. It does not matter how much time you have given to Tai Chi what matters is how much time have you given to Tai Chi practicing with the correct technique. Hound your instructors do not make it any easier for them, question them ask them why. This will prompt them to ask questions to Sifu helping him manage centers across India more effectively and you learning and benefiting lot more. Observe Sifu carefully and keep your senses open and alert when he visits your centre. Tai Chi is not an ornament embellishing a practitioner. One may feel good by showing it off. Fact is that is hidden but yet it is right there for everyone to see. Once Bruce Lee was not satisfied with his technique, this bothered his student who asked him that he was already super fast, to which Bruce Lee answered “There are people who are lot more faster than me, what I need to work upon is deception”. It never ends.
Pointers to Good practice
Make sure the following points are met starting with the lower body proceeding to the upper body
1. Soles of the feet MUST be evenly solid whatever is carrying the bulk weight- heel should not dominate over toe and vice versa
2. Knees MUST be pointing in the direction of the respective toes
3. Cut back on the rotation hip to ensure that there is no undue torsion on the knee especially during Wave Hands like Moving Clouds. Use the knee to open like the Stork Dance exercise for executing turns during “single whip”, “fair lady works shuttles” and kicks.
4. Use the waist to turn the upper body not the hip- This ensures that there is sufficient exercise for the spine and the back muscle
5. Spine straight but relaxed
6. Be aware the of the weight distribution of the soles of the feet, make sure it is even and solid, this is especially true when making the kicks clear and effective.
7. For effective kicks the upper body has to relax, emphasis on the knee first then the heel or the toe.
8. Head is erect, gaze forward, relax your neck and shoulder
9. Focus yet relax (being in the moment), make sure the weight transition is continuous and clear- Clear Yin and Clear Yang
10. When unsure question the instructor and clarify. Observe Sifu and ask questions.
Weapons
Weapons are for the exercise of the upper body. But unless one is sufficiently rooted the expression of the Power (Jing) either subtle (Tin-Jing) or obvious (FaJing) will not be efficient. In my personal experience with the correct pace you really feel the upper body working out with Sword more so with the Saber. Ones awareness about rootedness grows, with practice and refinement of the 85 forms, the rootedness reflects in the Sword and Saber. For those practicing weapons try doing your 85 forms before and after the weapons forms. In my experience after a round of 85 and then the Sword and Saber the body works like high performance luxury car, 85 forms after that gets lot more accurate one can feel the sensitivity of the entire body. For progress in Yang Tai Chi weapons is important. It is a litmus test of how good your empty hand forms are. The sensitivity developed in the hands becomes important when practicing push hands. As Grand Master says- “Weapons no good, Forms no good. Weapons good, Forms good”.
Push Hands
With the sensitivity developed in the upper body with weapons practice you now get to using this added sense of awareness in understanding another person during push hands- How is he directing a force towards you? How good is yours and your partner’s balance? How good are your forms? Are you fluid when you sense the force? Are you aware of your rootedness when your force is evaded? Push hands is very important for a Martial Understanding of your body and your partner’s. Without constant observation of force and balance in push hands the martial aspects of Tai Chi will not be clear. Push Hands works the entire body and the body has to respond with clear Yang and clear Yin.
FaJing
When the upper body has sufficient sensitivity (acquired after diligent and regular practice) FaJing is important to progress in the study of Martial Aspects of Tai Chi. The controlled yet explosive expression of Power without well warmed up body and incorrect technique can be disastrous. By the time one is ready for the FaJing the muscles of the upper body have to be sufficiently strong. Without the training in FaJing one cannot attain the speed necessary to apply many of the forms in self defense. One has to be technically proficient in Tai Chi forms to sustain the forces that the muscles of the body need to endure. The muscle will have to be completely relaxed and the mind completely in the “now” before the pulse of power travels through it to the fist, palm, forearm, elbow, shoulder, knee, heel or toe.
Marshaling an Army
In my experience with Tai Chi practice taking the body through the rigor of daily practice requires one to have a good discipline akin to the managing an army. Your feet are your foot soldiers. They must be agile with a good weight transition and should be able entrench themselves in the terrain with a good rooted stance. The knees are there captains always in sync caring for his subordinates by pointing in the same direction. The hip is the Major of an infantry division effectively in sync with his captain by not turning to twist them and bringing them in harm’s way. So far then hierarchy is linear. The orders are straight no room for interpretation.
The waist is the Commander- imaginative, creative and always aware, straight as the major, captains and foot soldiers yet cunning and shrewd as his superiors. The shoulder is the Major of the Paratrooper/Commando division. He has little room to maneuver and has to use guile to cause the damage, the elbow is subtle but a devastating sniper waiting for the opportune moment to sting. The hands the commando, enters the enemy territory evading capture and accomplish the mission with devastating consequences.
The Head is the centre of the military intelligence, Eyes and Ears the spies. Always watchful and subvert any malicious intent of the enemy before an actual confrontation. The principles of operation are deception, subversion resorting to anything and everything to ensure a successful mission.
The Mind, the Monarchy in whom the entire well being of the human body both moral and physical is entrusted. The potential of all degradation or emancipation of human life is here. Ok human body does not look like an army it is the entire country. More the individuals of a country are healthy, healthier the entire country becomes.
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